Canadian Authors Association : The Canadian Authors Association (CAA) was founded in Montreal in 1921, largely to improve copyright protection for Canadian writers. It was composed of ten regional branches, which met at annual conventions, and a national executive. While it originally included a French section, this was replaced by la Société des écrivains canadiens in 1938, with which the CAA remained affiliated. The CAA's founding members included such prominent literary figures as Stephen Leacock, Pelham Edgar, B.K. Sandwell, John Murray Gibbon and W.A. Deacon.
Among the Canadian Authors Association's early accomplishments were the institution, with the co-operation of publishers in Canada, of the Canadian Book Week in 1921 and the founding of a quarterly, the "Canadian Author and Bookman" that same year. During its first decade, it promoted Canadian literature by sending authors such as Wilson MacDonald, Bliss Carman and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts on tours of Canadian Clubs across Canada. It was active in the passing of Canada's original copyright legislation in 1924. In 1936, it began to publish the "Canadian Poetry Magazine", and was instrumental in the founding of the Governor General's Literary Awards in 1937 (which were taken over by the Canada Council in 1959). It also adjudicated the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour 1946-1960 and since 1963 has administered the Vicky Metcalf Short Story Award. It also presents annual CAA Literary Awards.
In 1946, the Canadian Authors Association began a campaign to bring a Public Lending Right program to Canadian authors, which came into being in 1986 and on whose Executive Committee the CAA is represented. The CAA continued its interest in copyright matters and is a charter member of the Canadian Copyright Institute. It has represented writers in briefs to royal commissions, including the Massey Commission on National Development of the Arts, Letters and Sciences (1949-1951) and the Bilingualism and Biculturalism Commission (1963-1967).
Over the years, some 25,000 writers have been members of the Canadian Authors Association including, in the early days, Bliss Carman, Robert W. Service, Ralph Connor, E.J. Pratt, Mazo de la Roche and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts. During the last decades, other literary organizations have achieved a more prominent position in representing the interests and concerns of Canadian writers, but the Canadian Authors Association continues to attract some 750 members a year. Its stated mandate is to promote recognition of Canadian writers and their works and to foster and develop a climate favourable to the creative arts. Its objectives are to work for the encouragement and protection of writers; to speak for writers before government and other inquiries; and to sponsor awards and otherwise encourage work of literary and artistic merit. It also undertakes to publish various publications, including "The Canadian Writers' Guide", to improve the professionalism of Canadian writers.
